Progress Update

So far everything is running smoothly. I have completed modelling the building in Revit, the only problems we have left now is texturing and importing the model into the Crysis engine. We are having trouble showing our building textures in Crysis, as it appears only once, and disappears next time. Wirada also tried using 3ds max 2009, but then we discovered that you can only use 3ds max 9 to import textures into the Crysis engine. I'm going to have a go at it myself, by firstly learning how to use sketch up, i noticed Jeremy got the textures working by using sketch up, hopefully all goes well for myself.

The link Jeremy left on the class wiki will be useful to me, its a tutorial from the crymod website:
http://www.crymod.com/thread.php?threadid=19058&hilight=XSI+EXPORT

http://arch1392-collaboration-2009.wetpaint.com/photo/4685496/I+Rock!

Our group is going to meet up tomorrow and finish everything off for the presentation

A brief description of what our project is:
Well City is a series of underground buildings located throughout dry land, containing living areas which include recreational spaces such as swimming pools. Above the pool area is what you would call the well, this is because if you are looking down into the centre of the building it is similar to looking into a well, but on a larger scale.

Group Meeting/Work

Our group met up to do some work today, Swati was in charge of lighting, Wirada is focusing on textures and importing, Jack is generating land forms. I started modelling the building in Revit, which was completed a few long hours later. I didn't model it to great detail, but windows were placed in as it will be important for lighting for the well.

The building is almost complete, only missing missing internal fixtures, furniture and most importantly, lighting. Modelling the well city gave me a better understanding of the building and how it works, i had to read sections and plans that were available and try to make out what happens and how they connect.

I managed to import the model into 3ds max, all to do now is watch the 20min tutorial on how to import the model from 3ds max to sandbox 2. Alot of work was done today, hopefully everyone manages to get time for another meet up session.

Week 3 - Getting Close

During the lecture we discussed what will be happening in the following week, the submission of assignment 1 is due "draft map fabrication" Jeremy talked us through the brief and told us what is required by next week. Each group then had to present their progress on the problems that they were having and the solution they had to resolve it.

During the tutorial each member of the team had to complete the task given to them which i posted earlier in the blog. Today we were mostly organising what we have to do by next week. Wirada helped us out by creating a timetable which shows the tasks given to each individual and the date that it should be completed by. If the task assigned to the individual does not get completed in time, things may get out of hand as everything links together; i.e. a collabrative work. The task i was given is to model up the building, which I shall create using Revit which then will be imported into 3DS max for textures. I think time is getting real tight here and we must push through to achieve our goal, hopefully all goes well.

Week 3 - Synchronous Messaging

Synchronous messaging comes to advantage when collaborating within a team environment, applications such as msn messenger and skype speeds up the process of our communication, and hence desired goal. These programs make communication easier and completing tasks more efficiently. I think now days everyone uses some sort of synchronous messaging as it is very easy and convenient to use where ever you are. It is also free!

Examples:

Windows Live Messenger
Probably the most popular instant messenger around these days. This program provides users with functions such as voice chat, online games, video chat, and file sharing. Adding contacts are made easy by using their e-mail addresses. MSN messenger is a simple clean user friendly program to use.Reference: Picture, Wilson Tan, March. 2009.

Skype
Skype similar to MSN messenger but this package focuses more on voice chat and conference calls, you add contact using their desired user name, layout and usability of this package is simple and straight forward to use. Skype is expanding, making many mobile devices include this program to use, as it gives cheaper and sometimes free calls to anywhere in the world.
Reference: Picture, Wilson Tan, March. 2009.

Testing Water

Throughout this week i have been searching ways to achieve my assigned goals, which is learn how to import water into a building and correction of flow of water which I'm guessing involves some sort of physics.

I have found a youtube tutorial which shows you how to create a waterfall, i found that this tutorial really didn't show me what i needed, but at least it gives me an insight on water in the crysis engine. The link below is a more detailed tutorial also on how to create a waterfall. This tutorial was found on the crymod website.

http://crymod.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4781

From looking at this tutorial i think there might be a way to achieve my goals. The picture below shows the flow of water down a creek, which in my situation i need it to flow down a cave-like tunnel. Only problem now is creating water within a building.

Conflict and Technology

Conflict
The word "conflict" generally means "to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash" also "an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals)". There are many more other reasons why conflict comes into play during collaboration, such as differences in attitudes, beliefs, values or needs. I think conflict in relation to collaboration refers more to the second meaning, which is an open clash between individuals since we are working in a small team. Every team may come across conflict during collaboration as every individual has different thoughts and ways they approach things. The list below are some reasons why conflict may come into play during collaboration.
- Needs
- Perceptions
- Power
- Values
- Feelings and emotions

The links below gives us an insight on conflict and how to overcome and avoid it, manage conflict and turning it into collaboration.



Technology
The word "technology" - a technological process, invention, method, or the like.
- the sum of the ways in which social groups provide themselves with the material objects of their civilization. Technology is always advancing, coming up with great ideas which makes life more easier. Personally i think technology in terms of collaboration means using technology such as Internet, mobile phones and computers etc, to its full potential and to our advantage in collaboration. Examples include the Internet, with instant messaging helping us collaborate much easier and faster, making it more efficient to achieve our desired goals. Without technology things would be a whole lot different. Technology in relation to our group means using computers, software, communication devices to help create our chosen building.

Reference:

Dr.Hoban.T, Managing conflict, Know your watershed, Date Accessed 25th March 2009, http://www2.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/Brochures/ManageConflict.html

Gravett.L, Turning conflict into collaboration, E-hresurces, Date Accessed 25th March 2009, http://www.e-hresources.com/Articles/Oct2001.htm

Source: Conflict Picture, New Resolution, http://www.newresolution.org/wires/wirescrossed_Feb08.html, (Date Accessed 25th March 2009)

Week 2

During the lecture we discussed the topics, culture, management, hierarchy, planning, records, context, technology, conflict, intent, communication, remuneration, knowledge and how these all relate to collaboration. We were supposed to vote for a class wiki but that didn't end up too well. The final decision came down to using wetpaint.

In the tutorial, our team all agreed to use "Well City" to be our chosen model. Reasons behind our decision was because the building is simple and it has lots of potential to merge in with the surroundings available in the Crysis engine. The model Well City is very interesting and will be very challenging for us to do, as the whole complex is underground, with potential difficulties with lighting, and also another major issue is water and the physics of the flow of water. I think what we really need now is larger pictures of the details such as sections and the floor plans, as the current ones we have are too small to work from.

The unchosen building was a skyscraper from the evolo's site. The building doesn't really look difficult to model, but there maybe a problem with the cords, columns on the outside as they look very complex. Not only that, there is not enough plans we can work from.

Later our group discussed the 8 potential problems we may encounter within the oncoming weeks, the conclusion was:
1. Creating water within the buildings
2. Drilling a perfect rectangular hole
3. Lighting of the rooms
4. Importing materials to Crysis
5. Importing miscellaneous objects to Crysis
6. Creating the cave for the well
7. Recreating the space (scale) with the information available
8. Correct flow of water (well to pool)

We divided up the 8 points, i will be doing points 1 and 8. Point 8 correct flow of water could be tricky as you may have to play around with the physics of water in the Crysis engine. We were also issued with the topics technology and conflict to research for next week as they will be put into the class wiki.

Progress and Development of the Crysis tutorial

Flow graphs, placing the tag point and area trigger was easy at first but when i came upon the flow chart section it started to become more difficult. Everything just got confusing and hard to find.



Adding AI was just like placing trees on the map. There were all sorts of AI's to add.



When i was creating roads at first, the roads were going all over the place and not like how the tutorial showed. I realised that i forgot to turn on "snap", an integral part which made the roads smooth.



Solids - had problems here with selecting the edges which also got pretty confusing. But in the end, I managed to make a ramp by adjusting the surfaces of the solid.



Here's another shot of adjusting the time of day.



Adjusting the time of day, I'm beginning to like this map editor.



Voxels - had a little problem with these. Couldn't seem to move the box creating cliffs were fine, but i had trouble creating a cave. Below you can see there is still a hole there.



Playing around with prefabs was pretty fun, its just a folder that has building models which you can blow apart.



Adding objects onto the map was just like opening a file and placing it on, but i had to make sure that snap was on, or else objects maybe floating.



Modifying the terrain - i noticed this program is quite similar to programs such as 3ds max and maya, which was pretty good as i have used these programs before. Modifying the terrain was a quick process as you can adjust the radius where you would like to flatten or modify.



Placing trees and vegetation on the map, this can really be detailed according to your settings used.



Creating the land for the new map was a fairly easy process, as you can see i tried to create some contrast with grass and sand.

My Two Unbuilt Architectures (part 2)

The second building I have chosen is similar to the first one; designed by the same architect, located in Kornet Chehouane, Lebanon. The building is also surprisingly a villa (called M-Project) which will start to be built in July 2009. What is amazing about this villa is free-standing as a rock that survived natural erosion, and the steepness of the site its built upon. The major influence which shaped this villa is from the nature of the environment and the personality of the client, the villa is visually a major contrast to the site it’s situated within.

What I like about this building is the way the structure integrates onto the site, still preserving its surroundings. The buildings simplicity makes it a team liking, doesn’t have anything over the top, location of interior spaces is like a maze which has a series of staircases connecting all levels, using this villa will be very challenging to the team as we have to work with steep land forms, working out the location of the rooms on different levels could come as a problems, as not all of the floor plans are provided at this time. But on the other hand I did manage to find plans of sections and a interior perspective, which will come in handy.
Personally out of the two, I wouldn’t mind doing either, they are both challenging to create in the CryEngine, they also both adapt well to their surrounding environment having very little impact.

Reference:

Source: All Images, Y.Tohme/Architects, http://www.yousseftohme.com/, (Date Accessed 18th March 2009)

My Two Unbuilt Architectures

One of the unbuilt Architecture I have chosen is a villa situated within Beirut. This villa called "T-Project" is designed by architect Youssef Tohme. The villa is located within a forest environment and will be built on the natural slopes of the rocky terrain, this project will start in May 2009 (so it’s still unbuilt even by the time this subject finishes).

The design and form of the building is simple and monumental externally, whilst in the interior spaces takes on complex and organic geometries which creates duality and contrast between the two. During the tutorial our group discussed which types of forms and designs we liked, which we mostly agreed on simple and organic forms, so T-Project might hopefully be the dwelling we are looking for. Personally I think T-Project is a significant piece of unbuilt Architecture, because of the simple complex forms it takes on and horizontal planes, which works really well with the environment it is situated in keeping the natural form of the site intact. This design should be interesting to my team based on the discussion we had during the first tutorial, the long horizontal planes and simple building shape should not be too difficult to create in the CryEngine. The dwelling shown in the pictures looks quite similar to the environment in the Crysis game; a dwelling not disturbing the natural form of the surroundings. Fabricating T-Project may be difficult, floor plans I have found are quite small, but other useful details are provided such as a perspective, sections, some of the interior spaces and views of different parts of the villa externally.

Source: All Images, Y.Tohme/Architects, http://www.yousseftohme.com/, (Date Accessed 18th March 2009)

The Crytek Experience

Got my hands on a copy of Crysis and the first impression of the game was that the engine that creates the environment was pretty awesome, whereas the difficulty of the game was fairly hard though. I played around with the map editor which came with the game, called Sandbox 2, and noticed that I’m actually playing the game more than learning how to use the editor. The InCrysis and CryMod forums should come in handy when im having problems with the game, hopefully all goes well.

Unfortunately today when I wanted to start on the In Depth Basic Tutorial - From InCrysis, the link somehow didn't work and was working a few days ago - strange! Something may be wrong with my ISP TPG.

http://incrysis.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=11847&p=1

The Start - Week 1

Week one, the studio class went by pretty well. We got into teams of four and completed some of the tasks that were given to us. We chose E-volve as our group name; the reason for this decision is because during this semester we will be working together and will develop gradually with one another and produce something remarkable. My team members are Swati, Jackey, and Wirada. I feel we will bond together nicely.